VirusTotal Uploader For OS X (Official Release)

VirusTotal is an online virus scanner for malware analysis by Google. It is widely used around the world to analyze suspicious files and URLs. VirusTotal uses a simple concept of scanning a suspicious file or URL using more than 50 malware scanners. If you regularly download from the Internet, your regular antivirus installed on your computer or Mac, is not enough to offer you 100% security. To be 100% sure that the file you just downloaded is free of any malware, a second opinion is always welcomed. That’s where online malware scanners like VirusTotal fit themselves. It’s not a replacement for your antivirus software as it is not installed and neither have any real-time scanner. Once you upload a suspicious file for scanning using the web interface, VirusTotal uses more than 50 scanners to analyze the file and tell you if the suspicious file is infected with any virus, worm, trojan, or any other kind of malware. For some Mac users, using the online web interface of the service to upload files for scanning is not very convenient. For them, the service has released a new desktop tool called VirusTotal Uploader for OS X.

Microsoft Windows platform users already had VirusTotal uploader application since a long time. The new tool for Mac owners is a welcome move for OS X platform. Using the new VirusTotal desktop uploader tool for OS X, Mac users can easily upload suspicious files for VirusTotal to analyze. As more and more users use the tool to analyze suspicious OS X files, it will help the online service increase its database of OS X malware and threats.

Using the new application is very easy. According to VirusTotal, Mac users can now easily upload multiple suspicious files, drag-and-drop entire folders, or even a complete binary application for threat analysis. For more convenience, the uploader also adds a new entry to the “Open With” option in Finder. Using this option, users can send a file for scanning from the context menu.

VirusTotal Uploader for OS X Features

Easily upload files to the VirusTotal Uploader to scan it with over 50 antivirus scanners.

Upload a folder to the VirusTotal Uploader using drag and drop and schedule the analysis of its content.

Drag and drop a Mac application to the VirusTotal Uploader before using it.

Using the context menu “Open With” in Finder to send a file for analysis using VirusTotal Uploader.

The Windows platform has been a sweet target for all types of threats while OS X platform wasn’t. But, in the past few years, we have seen how the OS X platform has become an increasingly popular target for many types of threats. To protect Mac users from the emerging threats, many third-party security companies released antivirus software for the OS X platform. Apple accepting the new threats increased the security of the OS X platform by adding built-in protections.

Apple also built an anti-malware system known as XProtect for Mac OS X. Although officially called as File Quarantine instead of XProtect, the tool protects Mac users from infection by certain malicious software. Later, the company added Gatekeeper designed to prevent users from accidentally downloading and installing malicious software. Gatekeeper makes sure that Mac users only download software from the Mac App Store or from registered Apple developers.